Doesn't the FAA hold a lot of power in the shutdown, like tomorrow they could say "If this government isn't back up and we are not paid tomorrow we are not working due to the financial stress our employees have" Stress is not a good thing when it comes to an Air Traffic Controller. The entire airspace in the US would come to a complete standstill and it could cause a lot of havoc on our whole economy, the shutdown would probably end the next day.

Air Traffic controller is probably the most powerful to strike because it has a long uptake time to learn the skills, it's highly visible in it's results when it happens and it's already hard to replace people in the position.

Not sure if PATCO 1981 is a super apt comparison given the unique context here though. Trump would find it politically more difficult to mass-fire federal employees who are striking because they're being forced to work without pay due to a government shutdown that a majority of Americans already blame Trump himself for. If he did it anyway, it would trigger lawsuits that would potentially get into some very interesting questions about labor relations (although I'm not really eager to see the logical contortions Trump's handpicked SCOTUS would engage in to find in favor of the government).

There is so much talk about automated cars recently with Tesla and others working in self driving. I’m surprised that airplanes haven’t also seen movement in this direction. This would eliminate pilot cost and allow automated air traffic control systems. The cost would probably be paid for by the extra first class rows you could put where the cockpit is now.

There is so much talk about automated cars recently with Tesla and others working in self driving. I’m surprised that airplanes haven’t also seen movement in this direction. This would eliminate pilot cost and allow automated air traffic control systems. The cost would probably be paid for by the extra first class rows you could put where the cockpit is now.